Defence Against the Dark Arts Part XXV: Rupert Bear

I discovered Rupert Bear and his friends at a very early age.

I loved the magical artwork, the colourful characters and the exotic locations.

I preferred the pictures to the narrative, but the stories were still very interesting. I didn't see anything wrong at the time, but some of the early text and pictures are now unacceptable because of the racial stereotyping.

There is a lot of information about Rupert and his creators online, and there are many images from the books and comic strips too. I will just include a few of my favourite characters and pictures here.

This is the Wise Old Goat:

I particularly like the Gooseberry Fool:

Conan Doyle's Magic Door and the amazing Kipling coincidence

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling have appeared in many posts on here, both separately and together.

These posts attract large numbers of readers. The article about Conan Doyle, Kipling and the Isle of Wight has, rather surprisingly, recently reached the top ten in terms of the number of viewings.

Another article lists some more common elements in the lives of these two great writers. That article was created some years ago; I have since learned of something else that Conan Doyle and Kipling had in common.

The first article inspired by Conan Doyle's Through the Magic Door, which I discovered only recently, introduces the book and lists a few minor topics and references that appear in both his book and my articles. 

This article features a fascinating story that Conan Doyle has to tell about a reputation-saving 'coincidence'. This incident in his life is of interest not only for its own sake but also because Rudyard Kipling had a very similar experience.

More about the Magic Door
While Through the Magic Door contains some relevant and quotable material, Conan Doyle is verbose – he says himself that he indulges in didactic talk and long digressions - his language is rather old-fashioned and much of his commentary doesn't hold my attention.

I said this about Joyce Collin-Smith's book Call No Man Master:

“...her work has a...duality: it is both very interesting and very boring. Some of the content fascinates me and resonates very strongly while some of it means very little so I skip over it.“

I feel much the same about Through the Magic Door!

While I am not for example particularly interested in the lives and works of many of the 18th and 19th century writers Conan Doyle thinks very highly of, some of the other material definitely gets my attention.

For me, one of the most riveting parts of the book is where Conan Doyle tells of his narrow escape from being accused of plagiarism. This story is all the more interesting because it closely matches a story told by Rudyard Kipling.

Two minor incidents involving more help with doors

This blog contains many examples of 'incidents' in my life, both good and bad. 

The most recent article on this subject describes two weird women I encountered around the time of the last Autumn Equinox. These women have recently been balanced by two helpful men. The incidents that they were involved in were very minor, but it is always good practice to acknowledge favours from the universe.

I believe that recording and analysing incidents, good and bad, large and small, has helped to increase the number of positive experiences in my life and reduce the number of negative ones. 

The recent incidents support this belief. I had been feeling under the weather for various reasons at the time; this often results in unpleasant experiences when I am out, but not on these occasions.

The empty office
I had to go to a meeting in a place I had not visited for a while. 

The lights were low and the air was cold – probably to save electricity - and the place seemed to be empty. I struggled to open a fire door to get into the offices, then wondered whether I had come to the wrong floor by mistake.

I felt confused and uncertain what to do. A man suddenly appeared; he was very helpful: he assured me that meetings were always held on the floor below and saw me to the lift. I thanked him for his help.

The security door
I went to collect my laptop from the repair company I had left it with. They had moved offices since my first visit and were now in a different building. 

I really dislike modern security doors with their panel of buzzers, often with semi-legible names. Getting the door open when buzzed in can be a problem, as can finding the right floor and the right office door. In the past I have encountered front doors that won't open, inadequate and misleading signage, inconsistent floor numbering in the lifts and long empty corridors. These things can turn a visit into a nightmare scenario.

However, once again a helpful man who knew his way round the building suddenly appeared. He found the buzzer for the company I was looking for, opened the door and showed me where the lift was. I told him how grateful I was that he had come along at just the right time.